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September 29 Happiness is...Your little girl snuggling up with you on the couch and falling asleep on your shoulder. Shhhhhhhhhh!   A nice quiet morning....After a wild night! A friend of Emma's (C) came home with her after school yesterday. About 30 minutes after we got home, her very best friend (M) called and asked if she could come over. So we had three little girls playing. A little while later, C's mom stopped by on her way home from picking up Cs sister A to see what time she needed to get C. A ended up staying to play also! Not only that, the boy next door (B) had a friend over, too, and all six of them played outside, yelling and screaming and running around, having a great time. B's cousin P lives close by, and she came over and joined in also - giving us seven kids running around playing! Eventually B and friend went inside, and P left, and the four girls that were supposed to be here had to pick up the toys they had out in Emma's room because C and A's mom was on her way to pick them up. Poor thing, she walked into the house and was hit by all four girls begging and pleading for Emma and M to go to her house with them for the night! Emma went, and M's grandmother said it was okay... so she got the crowd and we had a nice quiet evening Earlier today Emma called to see if she could go with M and her grandmother to the flea market... She came by, got her report card money (all A's!!) and was gone again.... September 25 UNBELIEVEABLE!After everything we went through with the missing crab - he turned up today! Emma picked up the "house" to look at the new one (she calls him Bobo I call him Charlie) and said "Mom, there are two in here!" The little monster was in the aquarium the entire time! I do not understand how he could be in there since Saturday and not be seen - also Saturday morning I raked all through the sand and shredded bark! He was NOWHERE to be found, and there was a patch of sand on the table behind the tank with what looked like crab trails in it. Good thing hermit crabs are social creatures and like living in groups... and explains why we never found the shell. I have an extremely happy nine year old now  September 24 Awesome news!Three years ago a UT student was murdered in her apartment. The case has been unsolved the whole time - Knoxville's version of JonBenet (but older of course). I did not know the student, Johnia Berry, but while I was at UT I did see her mother canvassing campus, putting up and handing out flyers trying to find her daughter's killer. Her parents have been tireless in their efforts, and have even gained enough support to have a new bill passed in the state Senate requiring a DNA sample to be given in arrests to aid in solving crimes. Breaking news this afternoon - an arrest has been made in her murder! Yay! Hopefully justice will finally be served and the family can have the closure they need and deserve. They will never get their little girl back, but I hope dearly they will see her killer brought to justice. You can see the story here September 22 I felt so bad for her...I bought Emma a new crab..... This time I got a screen to cover the aquarium instead of the hood that has holes in it for filters and such. Either he climbed out overnight or a cat got him. Either one, he was doomed. This way neither one can happen. The setup is pretty cute! He has a coconut "house," some driftwood for climbing, a star shaped food dish, a rock-looking freshwater dish, and a saltwater dish that looks like a life preserver. His name is Harry, too. Living up to his namesakeSeems like Harry Potter is not the only magician.... We woke up this morning and Harry the crab had disappeared! Vanished! Can't find him anywhere! Have a suspicion a cat found her way into the tank.... September 21 Introducing HarryI must have jinxed Spot and Sally by wishing them long life. They both died today! However, PetSmart has a 2 week guarantee on all their animals. Strange thing, though, I had to take the dead fish to them! I know they have to have them to exchange, but still - imagine carrying two dead fish back to the store! I put some ice in a ziploc bag and put them in it, and they made the journey just fine. I picked up Emma from school before we went. By the time we got there, she was over fish (still loves April, her beta, but enough of the others). She said she either wanted a frog or a hermit crab. After lots of discussion and instructions for various crab species and frog varieties, we decided on a hermit crab. He has a lovely striped shell, and is quite active! I hope he lives a long time for her; another pet death will be very hard for her to take, I think. Good times!This week has been quiet, but it has been a nice week also. Tuesday was my birthday, and I didn't do a whole lot, but I spent several hours with my mother and grandmother and we went to lunch together. It was very nice to spend some time with them. My parents gave me a gift card to a department store as a present, and Wednesday I had lunch with a good friend then went shopping! I am an unrecovering shopaholic who is regulated to basically grocery shopping lately - no shopping just for fun in ages! I had a very good time - and the store was having a HUGE sale, with racks and racks of clothes up to 75% off!! Yay!! Thursday the fourth grade at Emma's school had a parent luncheon. It was a lot of fun. The food was not so good (some things haven't changed since I was in school) but we had a nice time. A few of her friends and their mothers joined us and the time just flew by! The kids were allowed to go home with their parents, so I brought Emma home with me. We had a nice afternoon together. Have a job interview on Monday, too - hope it works out! September 17 A fish storyEmma had two goldfish, Luke and Leia, that have been around for about a year (maybe more, maybe less, but a long time anyway). Last Monday I went to feed them, and one of them was dead on the bottom of the aquarium. Poor Luke. Or Leia, whichever one you were... She took the news better than I thought she would really, no meltdowns, no tears, just a "why does this always happen to me?" This morning I went to feed the remaining fish - and he was also dead. Luckily she didn't notice before she went to school. Later in the morning, he got his proper burial at sea (flushed) and I cleaned out the bowl and gave it and all the accessories a thorough scrubbing. And proceeded to set it up again and went to Petsmart and picked up two more goldfish! These look very much different, though. Luke and Leia started out different colors, but after months of color-enhancing goldfish pellets they were both bright orange. One of the new ones has a black stripe from head to top fin, black tail, and "moustache" while the other is bright orange. Their new names are Spot (striped one) and Sally. Live long and prosper, Spot and Sally! And good luck. September 16 Girl ScoutsGS seems to be going well... we've had two meetings so far. The troop has been divided into patrols, and have voted on a few badges to work on together. I wonder if all the girls who are registered will ever show up at once! That will be interesting.... The girls all seem to be getting along, too, even though they come from five different schools. I was worried about that. This week we will start planning our Investiture ceremony  September 11, 2001I'm not one to dwell on things, ok that may not sound appropriate and may not really be the right words.... I don't tend to focus over and over again on things that happened in the past. Tuesday was the anniversary of a terrible event, though. It doesn't really seem like six years have passed; time goes so quickly. If I had a loved one lost in the attacks it would be the opposite I am sure. Here is what happened to me that day: I was at work at the clothing store I worked at back then. As usual, the only music we had on was Muzak - contractually it must be on during open hours. The mother of one of the girls working there worked at a newspaper office in a nearby town. She called us right after it happened, and told us that NY had been bombed, and all of Manhatten was gone, the Statue of Liberty, most of the city. Of course that was very early. We had no TV, and as yet still had on only Muzak. She called us with each update she got and after a bit we switched to radio. We heard what really happened as the reports came in. My husband was at work, our daughter was three and at daycare. I went to lunch that day, and by coincidence needed to get gas. Five minutes after I filled up cars were lined up at every station in town. It was also my usual grocery shopping day, and I went at lunchtime also because people around here hit the stores first thing! We all worked out our day, and I picked up Emma from daycare. We made a decision not to talk to her about it, because she was too young to understand and we didn't want to frighten her. I remember my mother wanted us to all come and stay with them for a few weeks because we are so close to where the atom bombs were developed and built; she was afraid that town would be a target. So many people here had the same thought! Even had maps showing the areas destroyed and timetable in case of a nuclear attack on the town. I didn't want to tell my mom that if there was a nuclear attack on that town the hour driving distance would only mean we died a few minutes later than if we were at home. Needless to say nothing happened on that front, thank goodness. For months it seemed we kept watching replays of the events, everything we could find we watched or read. It's like a train wreck - you don't want to see it but can't turn away. A few years ago we did tell Emma about what happened that day, she had seen something about it and asked us about it. She was older then, and able to understand what really happened. HmmmIn two days I will be 29. Wow. September 08 ???So today I stop at a bookstore on my way home from Girl Scout leader training, and there is a pair of motorcycles in the parking lot. Nothing unusual about that, but I had a thought: Who would drive a motorcycle to go shopping?? Where do you put the packages??? September 07 Today is an odd day.Today is my last day at Sea Ray. That is sad. I've been her three months and really enjoy it. A lot. This is a great position. I have no idea where I will be going next - I may get a call today, I may not. I am really hoping to have Monday off, but not too long because I really need the weekly paycheck! So much to get done, though, and I really need a weekday to get some errands run. Seriously.
Today is a first, also - the day of my first troop meeting. I am a bit nervous and anxious, I admit, but I am sure it will all go well. The families are already interested, it's not like I am selling anyone on the idea. I just have to act like I know exactly what I am doing, and the rest I will figure out as I go! It's worked in every other aspect of my life so far...
I have applied for a full-time job at another location of Sea Ray. Same basic position but in international boat sales instead of sport boats. THAT would be AMAZING I think. |
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